Olive Garden Minestrone Soup – Make the classic minestrone soup at home!  This soup is made all in one pan, is full of all sorts of veggies and even pasta, all in a delicious rich tomato based broth.

I love soup for lunch.  As soon as the weather starts to cool off I could eat soup every day of the week!  But I do get bored easily and like to mix it up.  Chicken Wild Rice Soup is one of my all time favorites and always will be.  

 

I love going to Olive Garden for their soup lunch. You can mix and match soups and try more than one, which is perfect!  I already have a Chicken Gnocchi Soup recipe and the Zuppa Toscana from them on here as well, that is how much I like it!  

This Olive Garden minestrone soup recipe is so easy to make, you can do it even on busy weeknights.  You have to chop a couple things, but mainly it is open cans and dump. You could even chop the veggies the night before and have them ready and waiting for you.  And the added bonus is this is a vegan soup.  Not purposefully made that way, just by chance!  So Meatless Monday here we come! 

Minestrone soup is a traditional Italian soup that is made with vegetables and often has a small cut pasta or even rice mixed in. It is traditionally a soup that uses whatever you have on hand, so there is no real set recipe for it.   

What’s In Minestrone Soup

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.

• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Celery
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Tomato Paste
• Diced Tomatoes
• Vegetable Broth – you could use chicken broth if you didn’t want to keep it vegetarian
• White Beans – I always drain and rinse canned beans
• Kidney Beans – I always drain and rinse canned beans
• Green Beans – frozen green beans make this super easy
• Italian Seasoning
• Spinach
• Small Shell Pasta – you really can use any really small pasta like ditalini as well
• Salt & Pepper

What Vegetables Go In Minestrone Soup

This version is loaded with onions, celery, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, white beans, kidney beans and green beans.  This is what Olive Garden has in theirs, so that is what I used.  But you can really pick and choose and mix in whatever you like.  Here are more veggies that would be delicious as well. 

• Russet Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes
• Butternut Squash
• Peas
• Shredded Cabbage
• Leeks

Olive Garden Minestrone Soup is super easy to make.  

1. Start by chopping onions, celery, carrots, and zucchini. 
2. Saute the veggies in a little oil until they are soft.  This only takes a couple of minutes. 
3. Next you add in the garlic and let that cook for just about a minute.  You want to be able to start to smell it, then you know it is time to add more ingredients. 
4. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable broth and mix until everything is blended.
5. Once that is boiling, mix in the white beans, kidney beans, green beans, Italian seasoning, and the pasta.
6. During the last couple minutes you throw in the spinach to let it wilt it and then season with salt and pepper. 

Olive Garden Minestrone Soup is a hearty and filling soup.  It is super flexible too; use whatever veggies you have in your fridge or even in your freezer.  It is a great way to up the last little bit of something. 

This is such a hearty and filling soup that you never feel guilty eating.  It is full of healthy vegetables so you are getting tons of nutrients in such a tasty way.  You could even add in ground beef if you want, I have seen minestrone with meat plenty of times.  Such an easy dinner you can make even on busy nights that will definitely warm you up!

Tips for Making Minestrone

• Cutting the vegetables to a similar size helps everything to cook evenly. 
• You can use fresh or frozen green beans, they both work well.  Just drain the liquid from canned beans if you use those. 
• Be sure to drain and rinse the beans before adding to the soup.  You can mix up the beans to use whatever you have or like as well. 
• Browned ground beef is a great addition if you want to add more protein and don’t need to keep it vegetarian.
• This soup freezes really well.  Just let it cook before placing in an air tight container to freeze.  Thaw in the fridge before reheating. 
• Other shapes of pasta work great as well.  Ditalini, small shells, and macaroni are my favorite.  But rotini or penne work great as well. 
• Top with Parmesan cheese if you aren’t concerned about the soup being vegan.

Storage

This is one of those soups that just gets better with age. But you want to be a little careful with the pasta. It will soak up a lot of the liquid and get mushy as it sits. So if I know we aren’t going to eat it all at once, I will cook the pasta separately and just add to our bowls.

Minestrone soup freezes really well, just store in an airtight container for 4-5 months. You can then let it thaw in the fridge and reheat on the stove. You can then add it some cooked pasta, or as you reheat you can boil the pasta in the soup to cook it.

More Soups You will Love:

• Wonton Soup – Ready in under 15 minutes!
• Taco Soup – Great for taco night!
• Broccoli Cheese Soup – Cheese and delicious!
• Crock Pot Potato Soup – top with cheese, bacon, and more!
• Spaghetti & Meatball Soup – pasta night in a whole new way!
• Beef Barley Soup – great for the crock pot

And what goes perfectly with soup?  Soft Breadsticks!  

Other Dinner Recipes to Try

• Chicken Tostadas
• Crispy Pork Cutlet
• American Goulash
• Crock Pot Chili
• Philly Cheesesteak Sliders

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